In a background art, in a building step in fabricating a tire, as a tire constituting member, there is built a carcass band in a shape of a circular cylinder by pasting and laminating, for example, a carcass ply constituting a reinforcement member including an inner liner, a rubber chafer and a cord comprising a rubber material on a peripheral face of a building drum.
A band building drum used in building such a cylindrical band is an expandable/contractable drum constituted by a number of segments plurally divided in a peripheral direction, and in building a band, the respective segments are held in a state of expanding a diameter thereof, the respective members are built by being pasted and laminated on the drum peripheral face. Further, in taking out the built cylindrical band to transfer to a next step, by contracting the diameter of the respective segments of the band building drum in a state of grabbing the band from an outer periphery thereof by grabbing means of a transfer apparatus, the band is detached by peeling off the band from being brought into close contact with the drum peripheral face (for example, JP-A-2003-89158).
Normally, the respective segments constituting the band building drum are supported to respectively carry out diameter expanding and diameter contracting operations, as an example thereof, respective pluralities of two kinds of segments having a time difference therebetween in a diameter contracting operation are constituted to be arranged alternately in a peripheral direction, in taking out the built band, first, one segments are contracted in a diameter (other segments are brought into a diameter expanding state), next, other segments are contracted in a diameter (JP-A-11-151763).
Meanwhile, according to a carcass band to be built, the innermost layer is constituted by a rubber member of an inner liner or the like, and is strongly pressed to a drum peripheral face by a stitcher after pasting a carcass ply, and therefore, an inner peripheral face of the band is brought into close contact with outer side faces of the respective segments, and are not peeled off by only providing the time difference in the diameter contracting operation as described above, there is a case in which a portion thereof as brought into close contact therewith remains, and the band cannot easily be detached.
That is, when the one segments are operated to contract the diameter, the other segments are brought into the diameter expanding state, since the band is supported from the inner side by the segments, the band can be peeled off from being brought into close contact therewith, however, when the other segments are operated to contract the diameter, the band is grabbed from the outer periphery by the grabbing means of the transfer apparatus and is not supported from the inner side. Therefore, the band brought into close contact with the outer side faces of the other segments are not easily peeled off, and there is a concern that the band is pulled to the inner side to deform in accordance with operation of contracting the diameter of the segments, which constitutes a hindrance in a case of automating to take out and transfer the built band.
According to an apparatus shown in JP-A-11-151763 mentioned above, in order to deal with shrinkage of the band per se after building, in a state of contracting the diameter of the one segments in two kinds of the segments, a clamp claw provided to the transfer apparatus is inserted to between the one segments and the inner peripheral face of the band, the band is supported from the inner side, and the other segments are operated to contract the diameter.
However, in this case, a special apparatus having the clamp claw is needed for the transfer apparatus of the band, not only a transfer apparatus having a general purpose performance of only sucking and grabbing the band from an outer periphery thereof cannot be used, but an operation of inserting the clamp claw is needed between operations of contracting the diameter of two kinds of the respective segments, further, there is also a concern of damaging a side end portion of the band by the clamp claw, and a smooth taking out operation cannot be carried out.
Further, although in order to prevent the band from being brought into contact with the band building drum, it is conceivable to subject the drum peripheral face to a working treatment for preventing the close contact, or adopt means for blowing air to peel off the band from being brought into close contact therewith, it is not sufficiently satisfactory in view of a peeling effect.    Patent Reference 1: JP-A-2003-89158    Patent Reference 2: JP-A-11-151763